git add only modified changes and ignore untracked files

This worked for me:

#!/bin/bash

git add `git status | grep modified | sed 's/\(.*modified:\s*\)//'`

Or even better:

$ git ls-files --modified | xargs git add

To stage modified and deleted files:

git add -u

Where -u is short for --update.

git commit -a -m "message"

-a : Includes all currently changed/deleted files in this commit. Keep in mind, however, that untracked (new) files are not included.

-m : Sets the commit's message

I happened to try this so I could see the list of files first:

git status | grep "modified:" | awk '{print "git add  " $2}' > file.sh

cat ./file.sh

execute:

chmod a+x file.sh
./file.sh 

Edit: (see comments) This could be achieved in one step:

git status | grep "modified:" | awk '{print $2}' | xargs git add && git status

I want to put the modified files in staging so I can commit them

TL;DR : START

Use interactive mode (git add -i), select update (type 2 or u in What now> prompt), select all(type * in Update>> prompt), exit interactive mode(type 7 or q in What now> prompt) .

TL;DR : END

For the more patient:---

STEP 1

You could use the interactive mode.

git add --interactive 

or the short-hand form,

git add -i

This will give a list of all modified files along with their status, plus a bunch of command options you could use, like:

           staged     unstaged path
  1:    unchanged       +17/-0 package-lock.json
  2:    unchanged        +2/-0 package.json
  3:    unchanged       +2/-28 src/App.js
  4:    unchanged        +7/-6 src/App.test.js

*** Commands ***
  1: status       2: update       3: revert       4: add untracked
  5: patch        6: diff         7: quit         8: help
What now>

STEP 2

For your case, type u or 2 against What now>,

What now>u

You get below,

           staged     unstaged path
  1:    unchanged       +17/-0 package-lock.json
  2:    unchanged        +2/-0 package.json
  3:    unchanged       +2/-28 src/App.js
  4:    unchanged        +7/-6 src/App.test.js
Update>> *

STEP 3

In the Update>> prompt, type * to add all the files of the above list to the staging area(you could well add individual files too by providing the comma separated numbers),

Update>> *

At this point of time, all of your modified files have been added to the staging area and you can verify the status by typing 1 or s in the What now> prompt(or just exit the interactive mode by typing q or 7 and run the usual git status command),

What now> 1

which will show you the status,

           staged     unstaged path
  1:       +17/-0      nothing package-lock.json
  2:        +2/-0      nothing package.json
  3:       +2/-28      nothing src/App.js
  4:        +7/-6      nothing src/App.test.js

We can see here that the unstaged column displays the text "nothing" for all the files of the list.

For the second part of question regarding ignoring the untracked files, I believe this SO answer will help a lot.

You didn't say what's currently your .gitignore, but a .gitignore with the following contents in your root directory should do the trick.

.metadata
build

Not sure if this is a feature or a bug but this worked for us:

git commit '' -m "Message"

Note the empty file list ''. Git interprets this to commit all modified tracked files, even if they are not staged, and ignore untracked files.

git add $(git status --short | grep '.M ' | sed 's/.M //')
# Change the regex pattern of grep only.
# So, if you create a custom shell alias or function, 
# the regex pattern of grep should be the parameter.

. is any one character in regular expression. The short form consists of X and Y fields and a file name. eg: XY filename.py

Check the 'Short Format' section in the git-status manpage to select files precisely.

M example.py: Empty staged changes in the X field and unstaged changes in the Y field.

MM example.py: Staged changes in the X field and unstaged changes in the Y field.